


Rinse, oil, balm.

by Saferion



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Anal Fingering, Biting, But it's there, Collars, Dom/sub, Dominant Erwin Smith, Light BDSM, M/M, Oneshot, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Submissive Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Training, it's how i train my animals LMAO - never knew i would use that in kinky fiction but here we are, minor mentions of ptsd, oh my god i am so WEAK for the praise kink i am so sorry, though that training is minor and not really really addressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 03:12:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11431944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saferion/pseuds/Saferion
Summary: Usually cleaning his equipment is enough to forget the day’s problems.Today it isn’t.Erwin helps him.





	Rinse, oil, balm.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out with me wanting to cure my ‘writing itch’ (I’m a visual artist, I don’t often write), and I wanted to write something I had knowledge in.  
> I don’t have knowledge in kinky sex.  
> I don’t know how it came there.  
> But it’s there, so better enjoy. 
> 
> Also, all kudos to my best betareader [Totallyawesomeharry!](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Totallyawesomeharry/pseuds/Totallyawesomeharry)  
> They totally went through all of my fiction and made me write more smut.  
> Thanks to their beta-reading you got an additional 600 words of pure smut. ;)

There’s a soft breeze drifting from the opened windows to the doorframe, airing out the commander’s room. The cool air is welcoming after a long day of dealing with another battle’s aftermath. Erwin pauses at the doorframe, silently watching Levi clean his equipment in Erwin’s quarters.

His eyes follow the rhythmic drag of the sponge over the leather straps, as Levi carefully washes out all the day’s sweat and grime. There’s a minor splash as Levi drops the sponge back in the bucket and rinses it with water before he turns back to his gear.

It feels like it’s fundamentally wrong to invade in his cleaning process. Erwin has walked in on many men and women in various stages of undress -he’s a soldier, what did you expect?-, but nothing feels quite as invasive as walking in on Levi cleaning his gear. It’s odd that Levi must be comfortable with this, considering he specifically chose Erwin’s room to clean.

Maybe he’s asking for something.

The thin, white shirt Levi is wearing does nothing to hide the supple roll his muscles make while performing the comforting tasks. Erwin moves over to the nearby desk and gently lays his gear on the desktop. The pommel of his sword faintly bumps against the wood, and he immediately spots how Levi’s shoulders tense up.

The cleaning stops.

“It’s a mess,” Levi sighed, as he dropped the sponge in the bucket. The water was still very clean – Levi wasn’t referring to the leather.

Erwin walked up to Levi’s prone form and looked outside through the opened window. It was pitch black, save for the few sentries on the Wall’s watchpoints.

“It’s hard to see with candlelight,” Erwin said, playing along with Levi’s excuses. “Wait until the morning sun rises.”

“It can’t wait,” Levi grit, as he grabbed the oil bottle from the ground. “You know that.”

Erwin knows. His fingers find the buckles of the straps around his chest and thighs and he carefully clips the leather free. With his own harness in hand, he takes in position next to Levi and his left hand moves out to grab the abandoned sponge from the metal bucket.

There’s a moment of complete and familiar silence, where they’re both dutifully caring for their equipment. It’s only broken when Erwin hears the soft click that signals the closure of the oil bottle. Levi gently places the item back in his cleaning tote; a wooden box that Mike gave to him as a gift, once. His nimble fingers fly over the contents and pick up the large tin of leather balm, the third and final layer in his leather cleaning process.

“They spoke to me,” Levi muttered. There’s a long silence as Levi opens the tin and slowly drags a small sponge through the substance, coating it from all sides. He seems to reconsider his words. “They spoke about me.”

Erwin’s hand hovers over the buckle piece he was cleaning, processing the admission. Levi rarely initiates conversations. He decides not to prod for more information and instead moves to oil the sturdy parts of his gear. Patience is key.

“Compared to this, killing Titans is _easy_ ,” Levi eventually spits venomously, but Erwin hears the slight fear in his voice. He wonders if he should intervene, stopping Levi before he gets too worked up.

He doesn’t.

The sponge is dragged through the balm with more force than necessary.

“Pity. Remorse.” Levi is nearing the end of his leather straps. “Gratitude. Gratitude, because it’s not them who’s lying on the cobblestones.”

Erwin wished he could make Levi stay in the barracks when they went out for the aftermath missions, but realistically he knew he could never convince Levi to stay behind.

“The battles are heroic to them, Levi,” Erwin spoke, putting down his harness. “There’s something about the fight for humanity that triggers their interest. People often like to forget that war leaves behind destruction.”

Destruction that the soldiers were ought to clean up, again. Shattered glass, charred wood, and scattered remains of humans and Titans alike – Erwin can give an entire rundown of the damage done per street in the district.

Rinse, oil, balm. It seems like a much better focal point than the soldier’s memories, and Erwin understands. But for today, it has lost its desired effect.

Erwin slowly gets up, and places his right hand on Levi’s tense shoulder. His fingers slowly knead out some of the kinks and blockades the muscles hold, but Levi never truly calms down.

“They don’t understand,” he growls. “They feel nothing, unless it’s someone who they know.”

His hands threaten to snap the leather, and Erwin decides it has been enough. He takes the tin full of balm out of Levi’s lap and takes special care to return it to its rightful place in the wooden box. Erwin extended his hands, and after some grumbling he receives the immaculately clean harness. He took both pieces towards the desk in the far corner, storing them away neatly.

With his back turned to Levi, he opened the top drawer of his dresser and got out a wide strip of leather.

“Wait,” he spoke, commanding. Levi knows what he wants. “At the foot of our bed.”

The bed is in the adjunction to his room, making up one out of three rooms in his quarters, and Levi has to cross the current room to reach the bedroom. His lips turn into a little smirk as he hears a small huff, followed by the soft padding of bare feet on the wooden floor. Erwin gives him sufficient time to get in position, and then he turns around to admire the view.

There he was: kneeling, waiting, patient. _Submissive_.

And very, very naked.

It had taken them a long while. A history full of screaming fits, physical fights, and even periods of extreme avoidance. Now, a couple of months in, it seems that they’ve both clicked into their roles.

Erwin strides up to his soldier and lets his eyes roam over the exposed back. It’s beautiful in the candlelight; the muscles seem to give off a golden gleam through the flickering of the flames. His fingers trail past the lines of Levi’s neck, shoulders and nape, and he is pleased to feel the subtle shudder Levi gives at his touches. Erwin decides he will waste no more time, and tenderly fastens the leather collar around the slim, white neck. It’s a beautiful contrast with the black collar, and Erwin feels the power ripple off the item: Levi is his.

“Levi,” Erwin says, as he leans down to whisper into Levi’s ear. “I want your full attention on me tonight. From now on, only my words count. Can you do that for me?”

Levi nods hesitantly, nervously wringing his hands behind his back. Erwin noticed, but decided not to call him out on it. Instead he rewards him with a deep, sultry praise. “Good boy.”

Erwin straightens up and proceeds to take off his own white blouse. Levi still doesn’t move, his collar adorning his otherwise naked body.

“Move up the bed,” he commands. “Pick your position for tonight.”

By giving Levi a choice, Erwin hands Levi the idea of some control. It was one of the many things they’d eventually agreed to do. Every time Erwin took control, there would still be a minor aspect Levi had control over. This time, it is Levi’s position.

When Erwin looks back up to the bed, a nimble and supple figure was laying in the classic presenting pose. Erwin quietly snorts through his nose; he should have guessed that Levi would go for that.

Erwin grabs the half-full lube bottle from the nightstand and carefully covers his fingers with the slippery substance, stealing some quick glances at his submissive while he’s at it. Levi hasn’t even twitched.

When Erwin decides his fingers are sufficiently covered, he moves behind Levi on the bed, using his clean hand to pet the smaller man’s flank.

“You’re doing great,” he rewards, while his fingers lightly circle Levi’s rim. “Doing great, just for me, aren’t you?”

He sees the instant reaction to his question as Levi rounds his back to push his ass impossibly higher up, and Erwin smiles sweetly. Levi has always done well with praise in the bedroom. The execution of the movement could use some work, though.

“Hollow, not round,” he corrects, as he lightly pushes on Levi’s lower back. Instantly he feels the muscles shift under his hand as Levi corrects his posture. In reward, Erwin dips his first finger into Levi’s ass, feeling Levi shiver below him. He only goes as far as the first knuckle on his finger before pulling back out again. On the next slow pump, he goes slightly further. This time he wiggles his finger slightly before pulling back out, feeling Levi tense slightly with the effort to stay still. He finally pushes his finger in up to the last knuckle on the third thrust, curling it in Levi’s ass to tease him.

Levi remains silent, chewing his teeth nervously to avoid making sounds. It’s behaviour Erwin still has to correct, but not now. One thing at a time.

Erwin’s eyes travel to Levi’s unbound arms. The pale skin is a stark contrast to Erwin’s dark red sheets, but it fits together very well. Seduced by the sight, Erwin pushes in a second finger, lodging it in closely next to the first. He widens his fingers minutely and eventually starts working them up and down Levi’s ass, sometimes lightly scraping his nails alongside his walls.

He doesn’t have to look down to know Levi is hard.

But pleasure wasn’t the only reason why Erwin is fingers deep in Levi’s ass right now, and Levi should realise that, too.

“Do you know why we’re doing this?” he asks, before Levi drops too far to be coherent. “Why I took on the role of the dominant?”

There’s a terse silence in which he can hear Levi swallow twice, but Erwin is patient. “I was getting too wound up.”

“That’s often the case,” Erwin chuckles softly, as he leisurely moves his fingers around. “No, elaborate.”

“I blame myself.” It’s said resolutely, convincingly, but Erwin knows it takes a lot out of Levi to admit to something that big and important. “The death, the destruction, the _pain-_ ”

His voice trails off, trembling. Erwin stays silent for a bit and instead scissors in a third finger. It’s answered with a small gasp from Levi’s lips, which he rewards generously with soft kisses to Levi’s back.

“It’s a mess, yes.” Erwin is finally addressing Levi’s first comment of the night. “But you’re never to blame for war and its consequences. These soldiers? These soldiers go into battle knowing they might not return, yet they still go, head held high. If it weren’t for you and them, there would be nothing left of the world.”

“I should ha-,” Levi starts, but is cut off by Erwin slapping his ass, hard.

“No, Levi.” Erwin sighs and pulls out his fingers. Levi slightly squirms beneath him, but he lets the topic rest. Erwin knows how much Levi tends to blame himself for the death of his fellow soldiers, even though there was nothing Levi could’ve done to prevent their demise. It would be a fruitless attempt to change that part of Levi – it’s engrained in his personality, just like the many other traumas he picked up in his younger life. Erwin could only be there to soothe the pain.

And so he is.

“Ready?” Erwin asks, as he leans in close over Levi’s back. He’s already working his breeches off, easing the material down his ass and legs. By the time his trousers are off, the question remained unanswered. Unacceptable. Erwin slides his fingers in between the collar and Levi’s neck, tugging it briskly. “Questions are asked to be answered, boy.”

Even then, Levi takes his sweet time. “I’m ready,” he eventually murmurs. It is an answer, but not good enough. Erwin roughly scrapes his nails against the soft skin under the collar as a fair warning. “I’m ready, Sir.”

“Better.” Defiant, but not untrainable.

He uses another squirt of lube to cover his dick while he puts his fingers back in Levi’s hole, quickly testing whether the man truly was ready. He was.

Erwin drapes his entire body over Levi’s, effectively pinning him down with his weight. He pushes in slowly, keenly following Levi’s reactions with every passing second. He builds up a rhythm; slow, long and smooth drags in and out of his hole.

The sensual fucking is driving Levi insane, if the small whines and whimpers were something to go by. Suddenly a soft whine turns into a loud moan, and Erwin could feel the passion rise in his gut.

He groans loudly in response and sinks his teeth into the muscular parts of Levi’s shoulder, biting down possessively. He picks up the pace easily, grabbing hold of both of Levi’s wrists to pull them above their heads. Without the support of his elbows, Levi sinks down onto the bed, his shoulders carrying the combined weight of them both.

Erwin loves the feel of Levi’s warm and snug body beneath him. His nipples glide over the soft and sweaty skin, arousing Erwin further. He lets go of Levi’s wrist, trusting that they will keep position, and snakes his hand around Levi’s neck, thumb and forefinger aligning with his jawline. He pushes and Levi plays along with his movements, dragging his head up and arching his entire body. His hands are clenched white around the sheets, balled up into fists.

He angles his hips a bit more upward and instantly feels Levi tightening around him. A flush starts to work its way up Erwin’s chest and Levi gets more vocal with every push. Erwin bites down on another patch of Levi’s shoulder, pulling softly. He nibbles his way towards the base of the collar, nuzzling on the heated skin.

“You’re mine, boy.” His fingers tighten around the throat; not enough to cut off air, but enough to make a statement. “Mine.”

“Yours, Sir,” Levi gasps out, struggling to maintain his pose.

Erwin reluctantly removes his hand from his sub’s throat, moving down to the leaking hard-on Levi was sporting. His fingers wrapped around the dick, massaging it in time with his thrusting until Levi whines loudly.

That was what he wanted to hear.

“You may come whenever,” he grants Levi, getting a small whimper in response. Erwin builds his tempo up to an erratic humping and then he finally comes, sinking down onto the body beneath him. Judging from Levi’s content sigh and blissed face, he has also come.

It takes Erwin a while to get coherent enough to get up and off, but he eventually does, knowing how much they both hate sticky sheets and clammy bodies. As he disentangles his legs from Levi’s, he suddenly feels a strong grip on his underarm.

“Stay,” Levi rasps out, voice sounding as if he’s spent the evening briefing soldiers, rather than cleaning. “Stay…”

Erwin’s thumbs come up to trail Levi’s jawline, waiting until Levi’s eyes lock with his.

“Sleep,” he tells him, letting Levi curl against his broad chest. “I’ll stay here.”

It took two changes of the night guards, but eventually he feels the tension bleed out of Levi’s body. Erwin waits a couple of minutes more before he carefully removes the leather collar off Levi’s small neck. He places the item on the nightstand and lightly tugs the blanket over their bodies, shielding them from the cold night air.

It’s in rare moments like these that Levi finally dares to ask for what he wants. Erwin just wishes that Levi would realise that there are other ways to confront his feelings.

Cleaning leather is easy. Taking care of equipment is the basic task any soldier should possess, and nobody knows that better than Levi. In the end, it’s not so much the leather he cleans. It’s how he tries to wipe away the empty memories and broken promises with every stroke. It’s how he’s trying to clean his conscience.

He has yet to learn that someone has already forgiven his conscience.

**Author's Note:**

> ...... as i am posting this, i realise neither of them ever blew out the fucking candles
> 
> well  
> have safe and consensual sex - blow out candles before you go to sleep, please


End file.
